The Zookeeper's Wife Novel

“I am betrothed to marry you…” Esmé mumbled, shivering from her shoulders down her spine. Maybe it was because her clothes were soaked from the rain or the cold stare that the man was grazing towards her—piercing, cold, and judging. "You’re sexy underneath those already-drenched clothes. I could understand if you wanted to tempt me. But you’re crazy enough to tell me you’re marrying me,” he said with a smirk. She never thought she’d be on her knees in front of any man, crying and begging for him to take her in. Left with no options but to beg for shelter at the hands of the most dangerous mafia in their city, Esmé lets go of shame and pride just to talk to the man who is promised to her. With no parents to support her claim that she is betrothed to the billionaire mafia praised by many, she only has her words which he labeled as lies. But Esmé won’t give up that easily, especially when she has dedicated her life to honor her parent’s words before they were assassinated. It was then that Esmé knew she had to stay alive to avenge her parent’s death. But nothing comes easy, especially when it’s a forced marriage to a man who doesn’t want her. By virtue of courage, trust, and seduction—Esmé will go to the depths of hell just so she’ll get his attention, devotion, love... and never let her go.

After being forced to give my wife's first love my heart, I died in the hallway of the private hospital she had personally founded. My six-year-old son, Ash, had already begged her thrice by the time I had drawn my last breath. The first time was when he tugged on her hand, saying I was coughing up blood. Sneering, she claimed, "So he's finally learned something—teaching his kid how to lie." Then, she had the bodyguards throw him out of the room. The second time was when he clung to her sleeve, insisting that I rambled nonsense due to the pain. "It's just a heart transplant," she opined with a frown. "The doctor already said he won't die." At that, the bodyguards stepped in again and dragged him away. The third time was when he fell to the ground, clutching her pant leg with all his strength, crying that I had already passed out. She finally lost her temper by this point, grabbing Ash by the throat and hurling him out of the room. "I have already said it—Howard isn't going to die. Dare to disturb Skye's rest again, and I'll throw both of you out of this hospital," she warned. To save me, my son pawned the most precious thing he owned—his St. Christopher medal—to a nurse. "Ma'am," he said. "I don't need to live a long life. I just want my dad to live." She accepted the medal and was about to arrange for me to be transferred to the last available room. However, my wife's first love, Skye Whitley, had someone block the doorway with his pet dog. He mentioned, "Sorry, kid. Your mom's worried I'll get bored if I can't see my dog. This room is reserved for him."

What a ridiculous thing happened to me! I was sent as a substitute for my sister for just one night but I end up marrying her supposed husband. “What are you doing? Are you not aware of the reason for which you are here?” He said and sat on the bed. I sat straight and curled my legs. “I…I….am... But I am a virgin and the thought of all of this is what scares me.” I said and Greyson gave me an evil smirk. My voice wasn't supposed to sound this weak and pathetic but I can't hide my emotions. “You have nothing to fear. I am the man who would be marrying you. Think of this as our marriage consummation.” He said and my eyes brimmed with tears. If only you knew that I am not the woman you would be marrying. I am simply her substitute. I thought to myself. Greyson reached out to my legs and dragged his fingers on them, and pulled me by the legs to himself. He frowned when he saw that I still wore a nose mask and suspicion took over him. “Remove your face Mask, Bella. There is no need to hide your face from me.” He said and I shook my head. Greyson tilted his head, and his eyes became cold. “Remove the face mask, Isabella Walters.” He said Authoritatively and I gasped. This was trouble.

Ajeng was forced to become Evan Braun's second wife by Ella, Evan's wife and Ajeng's best friend. Of course, Ajeng flatly refused the crazy proposal. But Ella insisted that Ajeng marry her husband. "Take care of my baby after she's born," Ella pleaded. "Don't be ridiculous! You'll definitely recover!" Ajeng snapped angrily. Ajeng thought Ella was just joking around. But one situation forced Ajeng to reluctantly accept Ella's offer because only that woman could help her. What happened to Ajeng after becoming Evan's second wife? Was she able to face Ella's family, who now hated her for becoming Ella's rival?

New book: Alpha's moonborn mate is OUT now. Read it today8-) ____ "Raven, love me. I want to feel you more and more inside me. I want you to love me the best you can." She dragged themselves near a wall across. She stood sandwiched between him and the wall while directing his lips down to her neck in urgency. "I want you now." Kiara grasped at the bust of enormous feeling. His first two fingers went in and out of her hole while the water overhead did its perfect work of giving a push to his rage. Raven groaned pinching her p***y lips between her legs that resulted into making her open her mouth at the beautiful pain that gush down between her legs. Kiara moaned while Raven accepted this chance to ravish her mouth. He kissed every freaking inch of her mouth closely sucking her tongue. He brought his hands together pressing both her boobs at the same time with such aggression that she kind of jumped arcing her back. He pinched her mounds lifting her up until her pink nipples were rubbing on his wet lips. "Uhhh, Raven!" She screamed feeling him inside her. "He's going to break you!" Her heart warned. "But I'm going to love him anyway." She replied back. ________ He broke up with her in the last year of their college. She begged him to not do it. Cried badly for nights craving for him but he didn't listen. However, after almost three years of separation he appeared in her life with a proposal... A proposal that changed her for real bad. Love will be deceived, hearts will be broken, lives will be destroyed and souls will be ripped apart in this journey filled with secrets, obsessions, relationships, greed and lost love!

“All this time, I was just a mere substitute to you? A replacement for someone you lost?” “It’s not that simple, Sheila. I—” “Don’t! I trusted you. Every embrace, every word, the heartfelt feelings—it was all for her, wasn’t it? Did you ever love me, Andrew? Did you ever feel something for me? Tell me!”  “Sheila, I……Sorry……” ********************* Sheila found out her boyfriend cheated on her and then lost her . Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, she realizes how naive she still was. Her father and stepmother, her so-called family, forced her to marry a stranger, and treated her like a bargain item at a mall sale. On the other hand, Andrew's father tried to pressure him into an engagement by threatening his inheritance. Andrew felt a sense of powerlessness as well as amusement, as he didn't care about the inheritance; he had already made a name for himself as a successful and feared business magnate. But when he saw Sheila's smiling face, Andrew's blood froze for a moment, and his eyes were filled with shock, doubt, nostalgia, and a hint of tenderness that he hadn't even noticed. He thought that maybe this was a chance given to him by fate, and this time he had to grab it no matter what, but he didn't know how the decision he made at this moment would change his life.

Chloe now looks hideous, so unattractive! Xavier her husband feels irritated with her looks. His ignorant innocent wife is unaware of Xavier's affair with a lady he meets at a bar who happens to be her half-sister Becca. Becca detests Chloe with all her being and is bent on taking Xavier from her as a pay back. When Xavier's affair comes to light, Chloe is shattered and suffers greatly as Becca gives her a hard time when she becomes Xavier's legal wife!

Alexa thought her life was perfect, until Anna came along. The woman who shattered her family, stole her father’s heart, claimed his fortune, and even snatched away Alexa’s ex-boyfriend. Determined to reclaim everything she lost, Alexa enters a contract marriage with Bryan, a dangerously wealthy billionaire whose power, influence, and resources are her weapons of revenge. Bryan, on the other hand, only wanted one thing, freedom. Marrying Alexa was his first step toward cutting the strings of his controlling parents and making a choice that was entirely his. What began as a cold arrangement soon melts into something deeper. But just when love begins to bloom, a ruthless enemy strikes, tearing them apart and leaving Alexa shattered once more. As secrets unravel and her past collides with her present, Alexa realizes there’s more at stake than just revenge. Can she rise above the pain to reclaim her life, and her heart? Or will love and vengeance lead her down separate paths forever?

When Olivia's young mother faced an impossible choice—keep her child or lose her inheritance—she made the heartbreaking decision to abandon the newborn Olivia at an orphanage. Growing up, Olivia never stopped hoping that one day she'd find a family of her own. That chance came when she turned 14 and the wealthy Hilton family adopted her. But reality hit her hard as soon as she realized she was merely a replacement for the Hiltons' missing daughter, Caroline. On Olivia's 24th birthday, the Hilton family announced her marriage to Clayton Bradford, four years her senior, the most sought-after bachelor in town, and the man she had secretly loved from afar. She thought he could learn to love her too. But four years later, he still couldn't forget Caroline. Just as Olivia discovered she was pregnant, Caroline returned, shattering any chance she had of Clayton truly loving her. Faced with the painful reality that she could never compete with his first love, Olivia asked for a divorce and left her husband.

Ashin Johnstone has never loved someone as much as she loved her husband, Kristoff Washington. She had spent most of her life crushing hard on him and was really elated that she finally married him in a pragmatic marriage. But she knew that he doesn't love her, not the way she wanted him to. She knew that he will never love her like a woman. He will never want her like the way she desires him. As painful as it is, she has learned to understand him and his feelings for her. She was trying to be contented with her life with him. She was trying to be contented with her relationship with him. After all, she is the legal wife. Everyone who would want him would go through her first because she's recognized one. She's the lawful wife.